


Learning To Fly

by Veeebles



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Billy and Steve get her a present, Billy teaches her how to drive, Brotp, Driving, I need these two to be bros, Just a simple little thing, Max turns sixteen, Max's Birthday, Other, Sibling Relationship, short and sweet, soft Billy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-10
Updated: 2019-02-10
Packaged: 2019-10-25 22:28:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,019
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17733827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Veeebles/pseuds/Veeebles
Summary: Her bedroom door had been nudged open and suddenly, Billy was there, tossing the keys to the Camaro in to her lap with a “need to get more smokes, you drive.”He had turned away, letting her follow him out to the driveway, Max grinning at his denim clad back.“You scratch up my baby and your ass is grass, kiddo.”She glowered at him across the roof of the car, tugging open the driver side door and slipping in.“It’s not like I haven’t drove before, asshole.”“Yeah, and you nearly ripped the ass off my car, you’re lucky I’m even letting you sit in it again.”





	Learning To Fly

Max’s sixteenth birthday was a bigger fanfare than she wanted it to be.

Her Mom had prodded her awake smiling and smelling sweet of her perfume, hugging her close with a “happy birthday, love.”

She gave her a card stuffed with some money, some makeup that Max stiffly thanked her for and a necklace with her name engraved on a small, gold medallion. She liked that, thumbing over the engraving, watching it shine in the low morning night. It reminded her of Billy’s saint medallion that was forever around his neck. She thanked her Mom who left her room smiling so she could get dressed for school. When the door shut behind her Max put aside the makeup and tugged the shoebox out from under her bed that held her money, her dad’s old watch, some dried flowers from the garden of her old home and settled the necklace in amongst it all.

Once dressed, she made her way in to the kitchen where Neil gave her an awkward hug, handing her his own present; a small bunch of flowers and a few gas vouchers.

“Now you can start learning to drive,” he told her, looking down at her with a smile that never seemed to reach his eyes. She thanked him politely, showing it to her gushing Mom.

She ate breakfast, ears trained outside until, _finally_ she heard the signature beep of a familiar car horn. She surged up, grabbing her backpack and waved goodbye to her Mom and Neil. The infamous blue Camaro sat rumbling at the bottom of the drive, Billy stood leaning against its side, cigarette in hand, blonde curls shining in the early morning sun.

“Morning, dipshit,” she called out in greeting as she hurried down the drive, watching Billy’s cheek twitch in what she had come to recognise as him fighting a grin.

“Morning, squirt.”

Once inside, she balanced her skateboard gingerly between her knees and slung her seatbelt across her chest. The board was old and worn, chipped at the edges and the wheels worn down. She had asked her Mom and Neil for a new one for her birthday, but Neil had tutted at her, “you will be sixteen; a young woman, you shouldn’t be doing such boyish activities anymore.”

The Camaro dipped as Billy slid in, tugging the door shut beside him and tossing his spent cigarette out the open window. She sat silently as he tugged his own seatbelt on and fired up the engine, sliding his aviator over his eyes as they rolled out of the drive.

Billy had graduated school three years prior, moved out the same day in a flurry of screaming from Neil.  He had set himself up in a small apartment on the opposite side of town. Max went there a few times, the place was small, but it was near the arcade and it had the added benefit of being just Billy’s space, just a place where the two of them could hang out without Neil’s watching eyes. Sometimes they had pizza nights, just sitting watching re-runs of MASH on his worn couch. Other times the whole gang came along, taking over the tiny Livingroom to play D and D while Steve and Billy shared a joint and a tub of ice cream on Billy’s bed. Billy had gotten a job at a local mechanics, working long hours at the weekend before joining Hop in the police, working as a trainee until becoming an official officer. The pay was better, but he confided in Max that he was putting it all away, he and Steve were talking about moving to California together, so they were saving up every penny they had.

Even though he was moved out, living a lift apart from Max now, not having her as a responsibility anymore, he still drove her to school every day. Sometimes it was in his cruiser, most days it was in the Camaro. He preferred to work nights, fighting demodogs years before had gave him the knack for it, the ability to work well in the night and under pressure, knowing all too well how to handle violence. So, every morning, he was free to cart her to school, then she would usually skate home or hitch a ride with Steve and the guys.

She was broken out of her meandering thoughts when Billy leaned back, hand fumbling about in the back of the Camaro, the other holding the top of the steering wheel. He shuffled about for a bit before seeming to find what he was looking for, leaning back forwards and plopping a long, hard package in Max’s lap.

She gazed down at it in bewilderment. It was wrapped haphazardly, the brown parcel paper covered messily in tape and string, but the shape of it was unmistakable.

“Happy birthday, shitface.”

Max hid her grin behind her hair, ducking her head down as the Camaro rolled on, Billy tapping his fingers on the steering wheel along with the music. She tugged at the paper, more or less ripping it off until there was nothing left. She sat silently, gazing down in awe.

The skateboard was bigger than her last one, sized for her age, longer, thicker, sturdier. The wheels were bigger too, good wheels designed for the uneven surface that was Hawkins’ sidewalks. She turned it over in her lap, the underside of it was decorated with flames, painted neatly along the surface and treated with varnish to stop it fading. Dead centre was ‘Mad Max’ painted carefully in rock font.

She squeezed her eyes shut, willing herself not to cry.

“Steve did the painting, quite good with a paintbrush, huh? Who would have thought?”

His voice was stiff, full of tension, like he was worried she wouldn’t like it, like he expected her to reject it. They came to a halt in the school parking lot and he killed the engine, fingers lingering over the corner of his steering wheel.

She launched herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck, skateboard banging against her knees, but she didn’t care. Billy gave a bark of a laugh, wrapping a hand around her back briefly before shoving her back in to her seat.

“Watch it, Kiddo, I’ll think you’re going soft on me.”

She was grinning, she couldn’t help it, she looked between him and the board, hands unable to stop running over it.

“Thank you, Billy – I love it.”

He smirked at her, leaning back in his seat like he didn’t give a shit, but his fingers drummed across his knee.

“Good, had to dip in to my Cali money for it, you little shit, you better look after it.”

She giggled, knowing there was no heat behind his words.

The school bell rang, and she hopped out tugging her backpack on and leaning down through the open window to look over the console to Billy.

“Say thanks to Steve for me, asshole,” she said, cheeks aching from her smile.

“I will, and you can keep it in my car, so Neil doesn’t see it.”

She nodded gratefully, Billy firing up the engine once more and watched as she walked around the bonnet, tossing the board to the floor and jumping on. It ran smooth over the uneven surface of the high school parking lot, feeling like she was flying as she glided along, kicking down on the gravel every now and then to speed up. She spotted Lucas and the rest of the gang near the entrance and sped up, sailing over to them and leaning back, swerving around, arms out to stay balanced as she came to a stop near them. Lucas grinned at her and they were all around the board, admiring it and wishing her a happy birthday. They each shoved presents and a half-eaten birthday cake in to her arms. She grinned while Lucas exasperatedly told her it was Dustin who had eaten the chunk out of the cake and in the distance the Camaro rumbled as it rolled out the parking lot.

 

V

 

She started learning to drive that weekend. Neil agreed to take her out Saturday morning. She had been nervous for it, forcing her breakfast down her gullet at the table while her Mom gushed how kind it was of Neil to take the time to teach her. She was fine with the driving, she _knew_ how to drive, it would hardly be her first time behind a wheel. It was the prospect of sitting for an hour in such a small space with Neil – they had never really bonded. She had watched him hit Billy a few too many times for her to ever warm to him. She lived in an awkward silence with him, playing the part of step-daughter to him but really, just counting the months until she could follow in Billy’s footsteps and move out.

She was nervous, drove poorly. Neil sat too straight, one hand constantly on the hand break, eyes flitting around too fast and worried. He picked out too many things Max was doing wrong, berating her for ever going over the speed limit, even just a little and for breaking too harshly. With every second ticking by she felt her confidence sink further and further in to the gravel beneath the tyres, feeling too stressed and too out of her comfort zone. They had returned to the house in silence, Max sitting in the passenger seat once more, staring out the window, cheeks burning, hiding behind her hair. When they got back, Neil made a joke about her not being quite ready to drive yet and that was that. Her mom didn’t even drive so she quickly gave up all hope of ever learning.

The next Saturday came and went and Neil never offered to take her out again.

The weekend after, Max was sitting in her bedroom Saturday afternoon doing some homework, Neil and her Mom away out for the evening for dinner and a movie. Her bedroom door had been nudged open and suddenly, Billy was there, tossing the keys to the Camaro in to her lap with a “need to get more smokes, you drive.”

He had turned away, letting her follow him out to the driveway, Max grinning at his denim clad back.

“You scratch up my baby and your ass is grass, kiddo.”

She glowered at him across the roof of the car, tugging open the driver side door and slipping in.

“It’s not like I haven’t drove before, asshole.”

“Yeah, and you nearly ripped the ass off my car, you’re lucky I’m even letting you sit in it again.”

He lit another cigarette and blew the smoke out the open window, lounging back in the passenger seat. He sat with his leads spread wide, sifting through his collection of cassette tapes while Max adjusted the seat to accommodate her. She had grown tall, not quite as tall as Billy, at least these days she didn’t need a shoebox to reach the pedals anymore. She tugged on her seatbelt and turned the key, feeling the Camaro rumble as it roared to life beneath her. She adjusted the rear-view mirror, giving Billy a glare until he grunted and pulled his own seat bet on, shoving a cassette in to the stereo and turning the dial low. She bit her cheeks against the smile when the tape played a song she liked, one of the ones from her Walkman that Billy usually teased her about. He adjusted the volume to a low hum, not enough to distract her while she drove, but a soft ambiance that would fill the silence and give her a peace of mind as she drove.

She gripped the steering wheel, thumbs rubbing unconsciously against the leather, worn at the top and bottom corner where Billy’s hands naturally fell on to it. She shifted in to gear, lifting the clutch and releasing the hand break to slowly roll out of the drive. Her hair whipped around her shoulders as she looked left and right, pulling out when the coast was clear to pull out on to the street and head towards town.

“Up a gear.”

She did as she was told, not feeling nervous this time around, Billy’s voice soft, his stance relaxed his gaze out the window making her feel like he trusted her. He made her feel at ease and a million times better than Neil had.

“How do you know when? What gear for what speed?”

She saw Billy shrug out of the corner of her eye, “you’ll feel it, the engine will get louder and start to strain, making you need a higher gear, try dropping one and keep going.”

She did as he suggested, pumping the clutch and changing the gear lower, the Camaro lurched a little, engine getting louder, sounding like it was groaning in protest at her actions.

“See? You’’ feel it when it needs a higher gear, so up it whenever you think.”

She nodded, going up the gears until she sat at fourth, rolling along steadily at 45kmph down the empty street. They drove on, Billy occasionally giving her helping cues. He kept her on quiet roads, driving through various neighbourhoods, avoiding the throng of the main town. He taught her how to turn at junctions, what hazards to watch out for and explained any road signs she didn’t know. He taught her how to hill-start, reverse, three-point-turn, being patient and gentle all the while.

An hour had flown past in the blink of an eye, Max feeling relaxed and sure of herself. Billy sang along to the music softly, his entire stance showing nothing but trust and complete faith in her abilities and Max felt like she could fly. They wound back, heading home as the sun fell lower in the sky, Billy’s shift at the station would be starting soon and Max needed to be home and off the roads before Neil and her Mom’s movie date ended. The last thing they needed was Neil seeing them.

They drove down a suburban neighbourhood close to the place she called home, Billy sitting up in his seat, a cigarette in the hand that hung out the open window.

“You want to learn how to parallel park?”

She frowned, hands tightening on the steering wheel, glancing unsure over to him.

“It’s not as hard as people make it out, try going between those two garbage bins,” he said, nodding his chin towards two bins sitting adjacent to each other at the end of two neighbouring driveways. They had a little over two car’s space between them.

Max dropped gears to first, pressing down on the break and clutch until they came to a roll beside them. Billy nodded his approval, sitting up a little straighter in his seat, eyes on the furthest away bin.

“Okay, drive up to sit beside it.”

Max did as he said, ticking forwards until the bin was level with Billy.

“Good, now, turn the wheel half and roll backwards until your back tyre is just shy of the sidewalk.”

She blew out a breath, processing his instructions in her mind. She shifted in to reverse, lifting the clutch and gasping when the vehicle lurched and the engine died.

“Easy, when you lift the clutch, lift it too fast and you’ll stall the engine.”

“Okay,” she tried again, firing up the engine again and shifting back into reverse. She lifted the clutch slowly this time, feeling the Camaro rolling backwards gently at her actions.

She rolled the car back slowly, “how do you know when the tyre is close?”

Billy turned his body around in his seat to look out the back, “you’re just about there, better to be safe than sorry. You hit the sidewalk any time in a test and it’s an instant fail. Just get as close as you feel and go from there, most of driving is instinct, there’s no right or wrong, no difinitive way to tell when you’re doing it right.”

“Okay,” she said, nodding at his words and let the car tick backwards a little more before she stopped, “I think that’s good,” she said, face scrunched up in concentration.

“Good, now, turn the wheel full circle the opposite way, roll back until you slide in, got it?”

“Got it,” she said, turning the wheel full circle like he said.

“Remember to check your mirrors, do it as often as you can, instructors love that shit, shows you’re a safe driver.”

She glanced in to each mirror, meeting his gaze in one, watching his face soft and patient.

“Don’t think I’ve _ever_ seen you check your mirrors,” she teased.

He barked out a laugh, watching the pavement as the car rolled back again, tucking neatly in to the spot alongside the sidewalk.

“I’m a great driver.”

She rolled her eyes at him but kept letting the Camaro tick along until it was in, parallel with the pavement both garbage bins standing tall and intact.

“There you go,” Billy said, grinning, “easy-peasy, huh?”

She whooped grinning bright like the sun, “not bad for my first try huh?”

“Pfft, you’ve just got a good teacher,” he tossed his spent cigarette out the window and rolled it back up, “lets head home, that’s enough for today.”

Max nodded, her cheeks aching from her smile and drove off, taking them back to the house. She pulled up in front of it, killing the engine and got out, Billy following.

He loomed over her, smirking, “you did good, kid, any time you want more practice just give me a shout.”

Max smiled, wanting to hug him again, opting to punching his arm, “thanks, asshole.”

Billy nodded, barking out a laugh and got back in to the Camaro, he stuck his tongue out at her, blaring his rock songs over the radio and screeched away. Max watched him go, the tail lights shining red in the low light.

“Show off,” she muttered, turning and hurrying back in to the house, feeling a million times better.  


End file.
